Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by

THOMAS CHASE,

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

PREFACE.

TOGETHER With the first book of the Tusculan Disputations, the editor has here presented the Somnium Scipionis, and extracts from the dialogues De Senectute and De Amicitia; thus combining all the passages in the works of Cicero in which the question of the Immortality of the Soul is discussed. Besides the intrinsic interest and value of these treatises as containing the maturest decisions of old philosophy upon a question of universal and nearest concern, they are adorned with a grace of style and happiness of illustration characteristic of their author and worthy of their subject. None of the philosophical works of Cicero holds a higher rank than the Tusculan Disputations for beauty of language and elevation of sentiment; in the Dream of Scipio the lively narrative and poetic coloring enhance the admiration which the loftiness of its views cannot fail to excite; and the dialogues on Old Age and Friendship have always been regarded as treasuries of thought and models of composition. With the exception of the Somnium Scipionis,

* Such was the admiration in which Erasmus held these works, that he pronounced their author inspired from Heaven. His words are these:- "Sacris quidem litteris ubique prima debetur auctoritas; sed tamen ego nonnunquam offendo quaedam

these are the fruits of Cicero's ripest years; and that delightful episode, as well as its companions in this volume, is the product of a mind enriched by the largest culture and made wise by a varied experience.

In the preparation of this work, the editor has sought to avail himself of the best results of modern scholarship. The text of the book of the Tusculan Disputations is founded chiefly upon the admirable editions of Moser* and Kühner; but those of Orelli,‡ Nobbe, and Tischer have been compared, on every passage, and

vel dicta a veteribus, vel scripta ab ethnicis, etiam poëtis, tam caste, tam sancte, tam divinitus, ut mihi non possim persuadere, quin pectus illorum, quum illa scriberent, numen aliquod bonum agitaverit. Et fortasse latius se fundit spiritus Christi, quam nos interpretamur. Et multi sunt in consortio sanctorum, qui non sunt apud nos in catalogo. Fateor affectum meum apud amicos: non possum legere librum Ciceronis de Senectute, de Amicitia, de Officiis, de Tusculanis Quaestionibus, quin aliquoties exosculer codicem, ac venerer sanctum illud pectus, afflatum caelesti numine. Contra, quum hos quosdam recentiores lego de re publica, oeconomia, aut ethica praecipientes, Deum immortalem ! quam frigent prae illis, immo quam non videntur sentire quod scribunt! ut ego citius patiar perire totum Scotum, cum aliquot sui similibus, quam libros unius Ciceronis, aut Plutarchi: non quod illos in totum damnem, sed quod [ab] his sentiam me reddi meliorem, quum ex illorum lectione surgam, nescio quomodo, frigidius affectus erga veram virtutem, sed irritatior ad contentionem." Colloqq. Famill., Conviv. Relig. *Hanover, 1836. 3 vols.

† Jena, 1846. Editio tertia.

+ Zurich, 1829.

§ Leipsic, 1828.

|| Leipsic, 1850. The text is based upon that of Klotz (Leipsic, 1833 and 1843) and of Tregder (Copenhagen, 1841). Published in Haupt and Sauppe's Sammlung Griechischer und Lateinischer Schriftsteller mit Deutschen Anmerkungen.